Fred

/fɹɛd/

Fred proper noun: a short version of Frederick, Alfred, or Wilfred, also used as a formal male given name.

Proper noun (1)

Fred (plural Freds)

A short version of Frederick, Alfred, or Wilfred, also used as a formal male given name.
- When I referred to the confusion which would result from the presence in the house of two people with the same name, she tossed her head and said it would be easy to obviate that by calling me Frederick instead of Fred. […] Imagine Harry Bolles and other kindred spirits calling me stiff, august...1892, Robert Grant, The Reflections of a Married Man, Scribner, pages 98–99
- I had great parents, but they made one major mistake. They named me Fred. I'm sorry in case other Freds read this, but Fred is a rather weak name. It just sort of fades away on the tongue. It's not positive like Matt or Jim or Mike or Luke.2002, Fred Hill, You May as Well Laugh: The Columns of Fred Hill, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 59
(slang) The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, a military transport aircraft widely used by USAF aircrews.

Fred (plural Freds)

(derogatory, slang) A novice cyclist.
- Here we have several World Championships every week. There is 'Hill Worlds', and then some other ones. What happens a lot of time^([sic]) is that only a few people who race show up, and you can have your way with the majority of Freds who do the ride (Hill Worlds is fun because people can't...2001, Andrew Albright, “World Championships (was Re: What is John Eustice cycling backround? ^([sic])”, in rec.bicycles.racing (Usenet)
- They called them 'Freds', a pejorative term that implied they were middle-aged and dowdy, and sniped that their only talent was staying awake for long periods. After it had been running for a couple of years, one of Jock's friends challenged him to put the Freds in their place. Jock, his...2014, Tim Lewis, Land of Second Chances: The Impossible Rise of Rwanda's Cycling Team

FRED

(abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of Federal Reserve Economic Data.
- Airline ticket prices declined as low-cost carriers started expanding their routes in 2016, the essay said. A chart from online database FRED shows the downward trend in airfares before the COVID-19 pandemic.2023 May 17, Heather Hennerich, “What Makes a Market an Oligopoly?”, in Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, archived from the original on 05 Feb 2025

Zachary Block chats with Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen about their new show, Portlandia, which airs on IFC, Fridays at 10:30.2011 January 25, “Portlandia”, in BOMB:
What happens a lot of time^([sic]) is that only a few people who race show up, and you can have your way with the majority of Freds who do the ride (Hill Worlds is fun because people can't wheelsuck).2001, Andrew Albright, “World Championships (was Re: What is John Eustice cycling backround? ^([sic])”, in rec.bicycles.racing (Usenet):
They called them 'Freds', a pejorative term that implied they were middle-aged and dowdy, and sniped that their only talent was staying awake for long periods.2014, Tim Lewis, Land of Second Chances: The Impossible Rise of Rwanda's Cycling Team:

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

What does Fred mean?: Fred means a short version of Frederick, Alfred, or Wilfred, also used as a formal male given name.
How do you use Fred in a sentence?: Zachary Block chats with Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen about their new show, Portlandia, which airs on IFC, Fridays at 10:30.
What part of speech is Fred?: Fred can be a proper noun or a noun.
How do you pronounce Fred?: Fred is pronounced /fɹɛd/.

Adapted from Wiktionary: Fred (page history and authors); FRED (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-Fred.ogg.

Cite this entry: “Fred.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fred. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.